Re: Son w/ severe brachycephaly

[Guest guest]

My daughter was about the same when we started. The doc measured here

manually at 100%, but the starscan said 96%. She wore her band for 5

mo, and I her asymmetry stayed almost the same. She started at 4.5 mm

and ended at 3.5 mm (brachy corrected to 85%). The asymmetry shouldn't

be getting worse. Is is possible is it just the scan? When they use

the star scanner they get the image of the head, then they mark a few

points on the image and try to line up the new image with the old one.

If these marker points on the head are wrong, it can look worse than

it is. I've heard there is about a 2mm margin of error on the scan

(don't know if that is official).

Can you tell if it is really getting worse, and also what does your

ortho have to say?

-christine

sydney, 3 yrs, starband grad

>

> Hi,

>

> My 6 month old son was diagnosed with severe brachycephaly (100%). He

> has been wearing the starband for one month. He is now at 96%. However,

> while there has been improvements to the brachycephaly, he now has some

> developed some asymmetry that wasn't there before. Has this happened to

> anyone during treatment?

>

> Thanks!!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I don't really have an answer for your question, but I've been worried

about the same thing. My daughter has been 5 weeks in her DocBand and

we've seen some improvement to her brachy, but not as much as we had

hoped. Also, as I mentioned in a previous email, I've been worried

about asymmetry being introduced while in the band, too. I don't like

the fact that the DocBand orthos only go by sight when making

adjustments to the band, because, frankly, it just isn't a very

accurate way to do it, so at least you have the Starscanner. Not that

it would be comforting at all to be told by the scanner that you now

have asymmetry where you had none before--but at least the ortho

theoretically could catch the problem early enough to properly adjust

the band and redirect growth.

Here's the asymmetry scenario running through my head: In my

daughter's case, one of the holding points on her band is in the back

of her head, toward the right side of and slightly above the very

center, where, in my opinion, the band should be trying to encourage

growth. According to the ortho, they will never take any foam away

from that side (the entire right side from midline over) and they have

only been taking foam from the left back (and right front) at each

visit. My daughter started out with only mild left plagio (which I

believe has now been corrected), but moderate brachy. So, assuming

that the plagio is now corrected and CT keeps taking more foam out on

the left to permit more brachy correction, if they don't take more out

on the right, then if we have any growth at all we're going to end up

with asymmetry (and I actually think we've already overcompensated, but

it is SO HARD to tell just by eyeballing it). The alternative to this

scenario, I would think, will be ending the treatment once the mild

plagio is corrected and not getting the most correction possible with

the brachy. I'm going to talk to my ortho again about it, because I

just don't understand why the holding point on her head is where she

ultimately is going to need growth to fix the brachy. Very very very

frustrating.

Not to hijack the OP's thread, but I would love to hear if anyone else

1) has a holding point in the rear slightly above and to the L/R of

center for a brachy baby and/or 2) has been told the same thing--that

no foam will ever be taken out from the entire side of the band where

the holding point is located?? Does this make any sense when you have

brachy as well as plagio?? On a related issue, someone had posted a

message a week or so ago about having been told that the holding points

would " pop out " ?? I didn't see any replies to that question, but would

be interested in hearing if anyone else knows anything about this

supposed " pop out. "

PJ

>

> Hi,

>

> My 6 month old son was diagnosed with severe brachycephaly (100%). He

> has been wearing the starband for one month. He is now at 96%.

However,

> while there has been improvements to the brachycephaly, he now has

some

> developed some asymmetry that wasn't there before. Has this happened

to

> anyone during treatment?

>

> Thanks!!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Regarding the 'pop out' our ortho told us that they have never had

anyone in their office who didn't 'pop out' after graduating from the

band (not really their terminology 'pop out', but that is kind of a

good say of saying it). Our ortho gave us the analogy that it's like

when you wear your wedding band...you often get an indentation where

the ring is, but it goes away when you stop wearing it....same as the

band. Our son has been out of the band for over a week and we are

already seeing that change...just a pinch more to go.

H.

> >

> > Hi,

> >

> > My 6 month old son was diagnosed with severe brachycephaly

(100%). He

> > has been wearing the starband for one month. He is now at 96%.

> However,

> > while there has been improvements to the brachycephaly, he now

has

> some

> > developed some asymmetry that wasn't there before. Has this

happened

> to

> > anyone during treatment?

> >

> > Thanks!!

> >

> >

> >

>